


Thank You, Grandma Barnes

by elrondjolras



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, M/M, Natasha and Sam are terrible friends, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, but Steve and Bucky love them anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-05
Updated: 2014-12-05
Packaged: 2018-02-28 05:38:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2720753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elrondjolras/pseuds/elrondjolras
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now Bucky knows he isn't a saint, not by far.</p><p>But he figures he's a good enough guy. He pays his rent on time, doesn't play his guitar too late, and hell, even smiles at the old ladies he passes on his morning run. So he really doesn't understand why God, or whoever the fuck is up there lookin out for him, has chosen to abandon him in this, his time of greatest trial. Because Bucky is standing smack dab in the middle of Tony Stark's black tie Christmas mixer, sporting his Grandma Barnes' hand-knitted, navy blue, snowmen-clad, extremely hideous Christmas jumper. And he's starting to get looks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thank You, Grandma Barnes

Now Bucky knows he isn't a saint, not by far.

But he figures he's a good enough guy. He pays his rent on time, doesn't play his guitar too late, and hell, even smiles at the old ladies he passes on his morning run. So he _really_ doesn't understand why God, or whoever the fuck is up there lookin out for him, has chosen to abandon him in this, his time of greatest trial. Because Bucky is standing smack dab in the middle of Tony Stark's black tie Christmas mixer, sporting his Grandma Barnes' hand-knitted, navy blue, snowmen-clad, _extremely hideous_ Christmas jumper. And he's starting to get looks.

He’s going to kill Natasha. Once he's able to find her, that is.

* * *

In hindsight, he supposes she  _did_ tell him to wear something nice to the small party her new boss was throwing. He had just assumed that meant something nicer than his usual attire of the first thing he grabs off of his bedroom floor. And it didn't help in any way that he took the part where she said  _small_ _party_ a bit to seriously. So he had thrown on the first (and cleanest) pair of jeans he had seen and pulled the sweater out from the back of his closet where he had stashed it last year. He had never worn it before, but he reasoned that ugly sweaters were part of the spirit of Christmas and all that, right?. He should have known that  _any_ party organized by Tony Stark wouldn't be just a  _small_ gathering, and definitely not a casual one.

* * *

More people are staring. Mind you, most are trying to be discreet, but Bucky can see them all right, which is why he maneuvers his way out of the growing crowd as quickly as possible, a few murmured _excuse-me's_  on the way.

Ducking behind a pillar, thankfully out of sight, he scans the room for any sign of Natasha's red hair, praying that she would come rescue him from this nightmare he had gotten himself into. He should have taken her up on her offer for a ride instead of just agreeing to meet her there. He bites on the edge of his thumb anxiously - from where he's standing, there's no sign of her, and there is no way in hell he is going back out into that crowd, even if it means hiding behind this stupid pillar for the duration of the evening or until Natasha finds  _him_. 

"You too, huh?"

Bucky very nearly jumps out of his skin. He hadn't heard anyone approach him. Whipping his head to the side, he sees - _oh,_ quite possibly the _cutest_ guy Bucky has ever laid eyes on in his life. He stands about a head shorter than Bucky, peering up at him through thick black-framed glasses and an amused little smile on his face. And that's when Bucky notices it. The dude's got on the most  _ridiculous_ sweater Bucky's ever seen in his life. It's even more flashy than Bucky's, being a bright red and dotted with sparkly snowflakes. Not to mention it's practically hanging off the guy, no matter that he seems to have tried to roll the sleeves up to his wrists. It's absolutely adorable. Bucky gives the guy what he hopes is his most winning smile and replies,

"Yeah, yeah, guess we both never got the memo."

The guy chuckles, and Bucky finds his smile growing. He finds himself wanting to know what his real laugh sounds like.

"Steve Rogers," the guy says, sticking his hand out. Bucky shakes his hand. "I'm Bucky. Bucky Barnes."

The guy -Steve- has stronger grip than Bucky would have expected from someone that skinny, and he finds himself a bit disappointed when he has to let go of Steve's hand.

"Well, Bucky Barnes," Steve says, glancing out from behind his side of the pillar, "It might get a bit cramped, but how would you feel about sharing your hiding spot?"

Bucky grinned. Maybe the party wouldn't turn out to be as bad as he thought.

* * *

An hour later, Bucky has learned that Steve is 26, only a year younger than Bucky himself, he is an illustrator for children's books, hates tea on a regular basis, but will drink it when he's sick - which, as it so happens, is a lot, is an only child, he wanted to join the army but got rejected due to, well his build, his asthma, his partial deafness, scoliosis, and a shit ton more Bucky can't remember, _but_  most importantly, that Steve  _is single_. In turn, Bucky has told Steve about his passion for music, his younger sister, and his secret love for science fiction, and no fuck you Steve, that doesn't make him 'a big nerdy dork'. Steve also explains to him that he had come to the party as his friend Sam's plus one, but had lost Sam shortly after arriving. Sam, as it turns out, works in the same department at Stark Industries as Natasha, and had laughed non-stop for ten minutes after seeing what Steve had worn. He can only hope Natasha, should she ever find him, won't embarrass him  _too_ bad. If she doesn't kill him first for not meeting her like they'd agreed. _  
_

Bucky finds that he _loves_ talking to Steve. He's funny, smart, and a really snarky little shit under the big eyes and floppy golden hair that keeps falling in his eyes no matter how many times Steve brushes it off to the side. Bucky has, several times, had to stop himself from reaching out and brushing it back himself. However, as much as he would have liked to stay there, in their little space away from the chattering and dancing of the party around them, he can't ignore his stomach. He can't remember if he even had lunch that day, but by the insistent noises his stomach is starting to make, he guess not. He would have opted to ignore it, but unfortunately Steve notices and his lips quirk upwards.

"Let's go eat something, yeah?" Steve says, grabbing Bucky's hand (which absolutely does _not_ make Bucky's heart flutter) and stepping out from behind the pillar, pulling Bucky through the crowd, in the direction of the tables containing masses of food that Bucky can smell from across the room. He knows people are staring, quite openly this time, seeing as it's _two_ of them in ridiculous knitted sweaters amid the great mass of black-and-white.

* * *

Natasha finds them almost an hour later, having found a new hiding spot behind the chocolate fountain. Like Bucky expected, she's mad he didn't find her when he got to the party, but that anger quickly dissipates the longer she spends staring at his sweater, and the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. She does smack him over the head for being such an idiot, and informs Steve that yes, she knows Sam, and yes, he's looking for him too. That being said, when the three of them find Sam, he takes one look at Bucky and Steve together and bursts out laughing, and doesn't stop until Natasha smacks  _him_ on the head.

People have given up on staring and have just give them a wide berth now. Bucky doesn't care. He's leaning against a wall, and Steve's leaning on him, describing the latest book he's been commissioned to illustrate, and Natasha and Sam are talking in hushed tones beside them, most likely  _about_ them, and again, Bucky can't bring himself to care. He just wraps an arm around Steve, somewhat hesitantly, but Steve just leans into his hold, continuing on about the book. Bucky thinks it's about a talking sailboat, but in all honestly, he isn't listening to Steve as much as he's watching Steve's lips, wishing he could lean over and -

_click_

He snaps his head in the direction of the shutter to see Natasha smirking over the picture she just took with Sam chuckling at it behind her. Bucky scowls at the two of them and Steve straightens up again, shaking his head with a soft smile on his face. Bucky immediately misses the warmth by his side.

"You two are disgustingly adorable, d'you know that?" Sam says, looking up from the picture to Bucky and Steve.

 Bucky feels his face grow hot and glancing down at Steve he sees that Steve's ears have gone a shade of red bright enough to rival that of his sweater. He locks eyes with Natasha, who just smirks at him. "You're a horrible date, Barnes. I'm trading you for Sam," she says, and grabs Sam's arm, pulling him away. It's her way of telling Bucky he's free to leave - preferably with Steve, or he knows he'll be hearing about it for weeks to come.

 _Screw it,_ he thinks, and grabs Steve's hand, silently hoping tonight hasn't been all one big joke. He's therefore thrilled when Steve squeezes his hand, giving him the most blinding smile Bucky has ever seen.

"Wanna get out of here?" Steve asks.

 _Oh god yes_ Bucky thinks, already pulling Steve towards the exit.

* * *

Later, he'll make a quick mental note to remember to call Grandma Barnes to thank her for the sweater. And then, he pushes  _all_ thought of Grandma Barnes out of his head, because Steve is on his lap, on his couch, movie forgotten, and kissing him breathless.

Both their sweaters are tangled in a heap on the floor halfway across the room.

 

**Author's Note:**

> it's a long weekend and i promised myself i would write something bc as you can probably tell i'm horribly rusty and this is all over the place  
> also - i suck at dialogue, oops
> 
> i'm on tumblr if you wanna say hi at stevieroqers.tumblr.com


End file.
